Not Quite Hatred
by Meta-Blade
Summary: They wouldn't even have had to talk if they hadn't gotten stuck down this damn pit together. ***(Samus/Metaknight friendship-ish) (Oneshot)***


A/N: Another little oneshot I wrote a long time ago. It's how I imagine Samus and Meta Knight's first actual conversation in the Smash tournaments. I'm not as happy with it as I could be, but it's sitting on my computer doing nothing so I figured I may as well post it.

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><p>Not Quite Hatred<p>

Hot, scalding winds blew across the canyon, bringing sand and dust along with the occasional tumbleweed. The trees were sparse, dead and leafless, with scarred bark and spiky branches. The canyon itself was marked with smaller holes and ravines that sliced into the earth, twelve feet deep and six feet wide, barely large enough to comfortably contain one person, let alone two.

Interestingly, one of these ravines was where Meta Knight and Samus now found themselves trapped.

It was a complicated situation. The two space warriors were not fond of each other and had only grudgingly joined forces to tackle the challenge of the Great Maze – the only obstacle preventing them from finding and destroying the evil that was Tabuu. But along the way they had somehow gotten separated from the rest of the smashers, and had therefore ended up alone together in the wasteland with no supplies and no idea where to head next.

Reluctantly, they had agreed to stop in an area with no Subspace enemies to catch a momentary break, hoping the other smashers would soon catch up with them.

But nobody appeared and the two warriors had soon been ambushed by a gang of Puppits, destroying their belief that the area had been completely deserted. They fought valiantly, outnumbered two to twenty, but when the battle had gone downhill Meta Knight had briefly panicked and thrown himself into the nearest ravine to escape, inadvertently pulling Samus along with him.

She couldn't quite understand how neither of them had broken their legs falling twelve feet onto solid rock.

Now they were out of the reach of the Puppits, who were too large to pursue them down here. Meta Knight seemed to consider himself lucky that nothing worse had happened besides getting trapped, but Samus was of a distinctly different opinion.

'This is all your fault,' she told him, furiously, not raising her voice for fear of alerting more enemies to their presence. 'I only teamed up with you because everyone else was going on and on about what a great fighter you are.' And this was quite true, for the other smashers held Meta Knight in very high regard and saw him as the most powerful warrior in the universe. Samus was fairly certain that was an exaggeration.

'I did not force you to come with me.' Meta Knight's response was stiff and overly formal.

Under any other circumstances he probably would have transformed his cape into a pair of wings to fly out of the ravine, abandoning his companion in the process. But the earlier battle with the Puppits had left him with a badly fractured wing which prevented him from flying more than two feet up. And the walls of the canyon, which were very steep and lined with loose rock, were far too dangerous to climb without risking further injury.

'Well, what are we going to do now?' Samus asked, making an impressive effort to control her temper.

'What do you suggest?'

'...In my opinion, the safest thing to do would be to stay here and wait for one of the other smashers to pass by and help us out.'

'What a splendid idea,' growled Meta Knight. Samus caught the sarcasm, but decided not to make a retort. Another argument was something she'd much rather avoid right now. Of course, that didn't mean she couldn't insult him a little bit – it _was _his fault they were stuck in this canyon, after all.

'If you hadn't panicked and thrown yourself down here like an idiot, we'd be fine now,' she noted calmly.

The masked warrior didn't bother rising to the bait. He sat down quietly with his back leaning against the side of the ravine, hissing slightly when his injured wing came into contact with the crumbling rock. Samus gave him a sidelong glance. His right wing was folded very tightly, practically curled in upon itself, but the left one was hanging limply at his side, unmoving. A few small tears were visible in the dark sail and the thin, finger-like bones looked somewhat crooked.

'I suppose,' Samus said thoughtfully, 'if you could still fly, you'd take off out of here and leave me behind.'

'Probably.' Meta Knight narrowed his gaze at her, the yellow disks of his eyes disappearing halfway into the top of his visor; she wasn't sure what emotion they were supposed to be conveying. 'I am sure you would extend the same courtesy to me.'

'Oh, definitely.' They shared a look, a look that wasn't quite amusement but wasn't entirely hatred, and it felt like they had reached an unspoken agreement. As long as they were trapped here, they wouldn't try to murder each other... there would be plenty of time for that _after _they were freed.

Samus sat down without a word, not having anything better to do, and stared at Meta Knight in silence for a while. She had never really noticed how... dangerous he looked, even when not in a fighting stance. His clawed, batlike wings stood out sharply against the dull yellow-brown rock of the canyon, their dark sails showing faint scars from previous battles. Even with one wing broken and hanging helplessly, they were still an intimidating sight. That didn't mean she was afraid of him. With an impressive arsenal of weapons at her disposal, she didn't need to fear anyone.

Just then, they were both momentarily distracted by the horrible creaking, rattling sounds of the Puppits above their heads. The monsters were swarming around the top of the ravine, desperately attempting to follow their prey but obviously too large to fit through the narrow gap. The sight of their glowing blood-red eyes brought a faint shudder to the spines of both warriors, though neither spoke.

As the Puppits' frenzied activity increased, Meta Knight shook himself vigorously and grunted, 'They cannot get in here.' It sounded as though he was reassuring himself more than Samus.

Nevertheless, she was glad for his intervention. 'I'm aware,' she replied sarcastically. 'Why, are you scared?'

Meta Knight shrugged, causing his metal shoulder-pads to rustle. 'I was merely stating a fact.' He stretched out his wings in a restless manner, cringing when the movement jerked his injured one. Samus' eyes narrowed, hidden behind the green glare of her visor.

'That wing looks pretty damaged. You should get it checked out as soon as we find everyone.' She glanced into his eyes, which were unreadable yellow disks like always. 'Or I could do it now, if you like.'

'You are hardly capable of such a task. And besides, you are too afraid to approach me,' Meta Knight scoffed.

She resisted the urge to blast him with her Arm Cannon. Honestly, how did someone so rude and selfish command the respect of every other fighter in the Smash Mansion? Perhaps being involved in violent daily battles had dislodged something important in their brains. Their respect must have been based solely on Meta Knight's combat prowess, not his personality.

'I'm not afraid of you,' she responded. 'Why should I be? You're no match for me in a real fight and besides, you're injured.'

Meta Knight's eyes thinned through his mask, flashing through a rainbow of different colours; white, red, green, and finally back to yellow. By then, Samus knew his eyes changed colour according to his emotions, but this rapid spectrum of different hues was impossible to read.

'Why do you care enough to ask after my health?' he growled. 'You loathe me.'

Samus shook her head thoughtfully. 'I don't like you, but you're still a comrade. I wouldn't leave you to be hurt or killed, not if I can help you.' She paused to think. 'You're annoying and selfish, you terrify the other smashers for no good reason, and you think you're the best fighter ever. That's enough reason for me to hate you.'

Meta Knight was quiet for a moment.

'I apologise if I ever seemed that way,' he said in his peculiarly deep voice. 'It was not my intention to appear callous. I merely wish to avoid forming any close ties with anyone in this world. As such, I have no choice but to remain distant.'

'Why's that?' asked Samus absently. 'All the fighters have friends, even me.'

'It is a long and complicated story, and not one I am planning to recite to you,' the masked warrior replied flatly. 'I have never told anyone.'

Samus nodded quickly. Like him, she had many secrets that she would never trust another living creature with, and she couldn't blame him for being stubborn. 'I'm just surprised, that's all,' she finally said. 'I always thought you hated me as much as I hated you.'

'It is true I hated you at first,' he said, though added quickly, 'but it seems that both of us made bad first impressions. Perhaps it is time to start afresh.'

'I agree,' replied Samus, and was vaguely startled to discover that she actually meant those words. A friendship with Meta Knight was something she'd never considered possible – they'd practically loathed each other from their very first conversation, and that emotion hadn't begun to fade until she learned that his 'cold and unapproachable' facade was just that – a facade.

'I thank you for your acceptance,' he said. There was a minute or two of silence, although it surprisingly wasn't uncomfortable, but rather calm and peaceful. With nothing to listen to save the faint howling of the desert wind, it was almost pleasant. Even the ravenous Puppits seemed to have retreated from the mouth of the canyon, leaving them alone.

Like most of the smashers, Samus knew quite well that Meta Knight was prone to sudden silences during which he would not make a noise for hours, or days. She didn't understand it, but knew better than to ask.

When he finally did speak, it was in a soft tone that sounded almost apologetic to her ears.

'I am sorry for causing this mess,' he said, waving a hand towards the opening of the ravine at least twelve feet above him. 'If not for my mistake, we would not be here.'

Samus made a slight movement that might have been a shrug. 'It's not a problem. I go adventuring through the universe all the time; you wouldn't believe how often I get into situations like this.' She leaned against the rocky wall, careful to avoid Meta Knight's still injured wing. 'We'll just wait until another smasher comes searching for us. If nobody comes, we'll find a way out ourselves.'

'Hmm,' was the masked warrior's only answer. He wondered how she could sound so sure.

About fifteen minutes passed in strangely companionable silence. At some point, Meta Knight closed his eyes with a contented sigh, causing his visor to appear fully black for a while. Samus, whose face was concealed behind her green-tinted visor, simply stared at him.

Then, very suddenly, the knight sprung to his feet and whipped out his sword so quickly that Samus, who hadn't been expecting it, thought he was trying to attack her. She pointed her Arm Cannon at him and began to charge up a vicious energy blast, hesitating only when he shouted, 'Wait! Look up!'

Together, they raised their eyes to the sky. The sound of running footsteps on dry earth was clearly audible from further away and growing louder by the second. Panicked, urgent voices drifted into earshot. Samus looked back at Meta Knight in wordless excitement. 'Someone's coming!'

A series of long shadows fell into the ravine and a pair of familiar heads came into view. Ike, his blue hair ruffled and dusted with sand, was wide-eyed and gasping for breath, looking as though he'd just run across the better part of the wasteland without stopping.

His teammate Kirby was leaning heavily against the mercenary's leg for support, looking rather exhausted himself, although there was a huge smile on his face.

'Samus, Meta Knight!' Ike's voice called out, echoes spiralling down into the ravine. 'Are you all right in there?'

'We're fine!' both warriors shouted back in unison. Ike smirked and gestured for Kirby to pass him a nearby rope, frayed and dusty, which he lowered into the deep hole as quickly as he could.

Samus stood back and gestured for Meta Knight to climb up first. He did so very fast, grabbing the rope with both hands and making it to the top of the canyon within seconds. With a grunt of exertion, Ike grasped the small knight's arm and dragged him the last couple of feet out of the ravine, into freedom.

Samus, on the other hand, didn't wait for him to lower the rope down again. She raised her Arm Cannon and tossed out a long line of plasma energy like a whip, which grappled onto the top of the ravine and pulled her up to safety.

She then stood up quite calmly and brushed herself off as though nothing had happened.

Ike looked momentarily dumbstruck before suddenly grinning and throwing the frayed length of rope aside, apparently accepting the turn of events. Kirby squealed in delight and briefly hugged them both. Meta Knight, on the other hand, was just staring in wide-eyed astonishment.

'You...' he struggled to form words.

She raised an unseen eyebrow. 'Yes?' she asked, silently rather enjoying his funny reaction.

'You could have escaped at any time! You did not need to stay down there with me; you could have got away without _Ike's_ help!' Meta Knight sounded almost angry. His fists were clenched tightly and his wings were trembling.

Samus sighed at his behaviour. 'Yes, I could have escaped, but I didn't want to. It's not exactly good manners to leave a comrade stuck down a hole all alone.' Seeing how bewildered he still looked, she added, 'I know you're not completely heartless. I'm sure if I was the one injured instead, you would have stayed too.'

She smiled behind her green-tinted visor and turned away, leaving Meta Knight stammering incoherently.

Ike cleared his throat somewhat awkwardly. 'I hate to interrupt your lovely little, uh, moment, but... I can hear those Puppits coming back and we should probably get ourselves out of here.'

Sure enough, the horribly familiar sound of rattling wood was audible in the distance, and when Samus paused and concentrated, she could hear the noise growing steadily louder as the Puppits approached.

'Come on, let's go,' she said hastily, taking the lead as the group ran for it, jumping easily over rocks and ditches that obstructed their path. The wasteland was littered with obstacles to hinder their progress. Even so, it wasn't long before they had outraced the Puppits and were able to slow themselves to a walk, though they kept a wary eye out for more ambushes.

Meta Knight stayed close to Samus. He would have effortlessly overtaken her at speed, but with one wing damaged he couldn't glide above the ground like he normally did. But he didn't mind. He knew their conversation in the ravine had forged a new alliance, and the violence and hatred that had previously existed was no longer there. He had found a new comrade in her, and – if they were lucky – the beginnings of what might become a real friendship.


End file.
